Significance of Beaded Edges/Borders on South Indian Weapons?

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Nihl,
I cant, unfortunately, tell you much about the beads, other than they were used a lot in South India, and seems later to have been used in other places as well. If you have A Passion for Indian Arms you should check the pages below.
The pata detail you show is indeed South Indian (p. 347-349) 16th to early 17th century. Do yu see the peacocks or hamsa's on top of the gauntlet?

The katar below (p. 173-174) Tanjore 16th to early 17th century.
The tulwar (p. 213-215) Rajasthan late 18th to early 19th century, with an etched mark on the blade from the Kishangarh armoury.


Robert Elgood: Rajput Arms & Armour, The Rathores & Their Armoury at Jodhpur Fort. Vol. II, p. 344-345. A tulwar hilt with beards on the disc, the quillons and on the langets. Hilt late 19th century.


Other bearded weapons can be seen in different books, but I have yet to see an explanation why they were bearded.